The 2004 Metamora boys tennis season found the Redbirds facing the arduous task of replacing four of its top six from the record-setting team of 2003.  That they were able to achieve remarkable success again in ’04 with four new faces made the season’s accomplishments even more satisfying.

As has been the rule for the past five or six years, the competition at the top of the Mid-Illini Conference continued to be excellent in 2004, as both Morton and Dunlap had exceptional teams once again.  The dual match results were odd, as Metamora beat Dunlap twice, Dunlap beat Morton twice, and Morton beat Metamora twice, resulting in a tie for first place for the third straight year (Metamora and Morton in ’03; all three schools in ’02).  Morton’s narrow victory at the Mid-Illini Conference tournament did not detract from the tremendous competition each school presented the other two throughout the season.

Redbird doubles players continued to experience Mid-Illini success, as Kyle Shoff and Nate Rauh cruised to the #1 conference doubles title while Mike Axelson and Nick Vaughn won the #2 championship.  In the two years the Mid-Illini has played a two singles, two doubles format, Metamora players have now won all four possible doubles conference titles.

The 2004 season was capped off with a second consecutive sectional championship for Metamora High School.  This accomplishment, almost a laughable goal five years ago, helped validate this year’s team as exceptional in its own right.  Kyle Shoff and Nate Rauh won Metamora’s first ever doubles sectional title, defeating Dunlap’s state quarterfinal team of Joe Withers and Jeff Bucher in a dramatic final.  It was Shoff’s and Rauh’s third win over Withers and Bucher in three attempts in ’04, a remarkable feat against a truly great doubles opponent.

John Armstrong advanced to the sectional title match and lost a tight three-set battle to Seth Thompson of Notre Dame.  To have progressed from not being in the top six in 2003 to finishing second in the sectional in 2004, however, represented amazing development for Armstrong in a year’s time.  Mike Axelson and Nick Vaughn finished third in doubles, also advancing to the state tournament.  One year earlier, Metamora qualified both doubles teams for state for the first time ever.  This year, as expectations have continued to grow, qualifying both doubles teams was what was expected.  It was Metamora’s second straight year of qualifying five players for state, another school best.

Sectional championships are extremely difficult to capture.  Winning a second straight title made many Redbird players and this Redbird coach very proud and extremely satisfied.  The strength of the Mid-Illini Conference was also demonstrated at the Bloomington Sectional, where Morton ended Bloomington’s nearly three-decade stranglehold on the boys sectional, winning the title by a convincing fourteen points.

The sectional title was certainly the high point of the season, but the rest of the year also provided some very memorable moments.  The Redbirds finished second at the Red & White Invitational, while Kyle Shoff and Nate Rauh captured the #1 doubles title.  The Red & White was extremely strong again in ’04, as even a team that tied for 6th place (Ottawa) won a sectional title later in the year.  Metamora also had success at the Bloomington Invitational, finishing 4th out of sixteen quality teams.  Nick Vaughn and Mike Axelson won Metamora’s first ever championship at the Bloomington event, capturing the #2 doubles title with wins over U-High, Danville, Galesburg, and Edwardsville.

For the second year in a row, Metamora began the season with an indoor invitational featuring three exceptional opponents.  The Redbirds were able to win 3-2 mini-duals against Moline and Danville and play competitively against Gurnee Warren in what was a tremendous start to the ’04 campaign.

Metamora was honored for a second consecutive year by being invited to the Tom Pitchford Invitational at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.  This invitational, featuring 32 of the finest teams in Illinois, is considered to be the crown jewel of in-season tournaments, and merely being included is an honor.  Only seven teams from outside of the Chicago area were invited; Metamora and Morton were both thrilled to represent Central Illinois.  The Redbirds had a successful tournament, finishing 18th in the very strong field.

The dual season was another good one for Metamora, as the Redbirds finished with an overall record of 12-2.  Metamora defeated pre-season Mid-Illini favorite Dunlap 7-2 and 6-3, stretching to four the winning streak against the Eagles.  The Redbirds also beat Mid-State Six co-champs Notre Dame and Richwoods 7-2 and 8-1, respectively.  Merely competing against Richwoods was unthinkable until a few years ago, so the 8-1 season-opening victory was very satisfying to this coach.

Despite the fact that the two losses (particularly the second one) could have certainly been victories, it cannot be said that Metamora lost to a lesser team.  The Redbirds had the unfortunate luck of having a great tennis team in the same season Morton had a great tennis team.  The sustained high level of play at Metamora, Morton, and Dunlap has served to motivate each school’s players to continually improve, which has ultimately led to the Mid-Illini Conference having outstanding success against other area schools as well as on a state-wide level.

Many Redbird individuals were honored for their season results as well.  Kyle Shoff, Nate Rauh, and John Armstrong were named to the eight-person All-Conference team.  It was Kyle’s third time and Nate’s second time being so honored.  Nick Vaughn and Mike Axelson were named to the second team.

At the state tournament, Shoff and Rauh were seeded in the top sixteen in Illinois, a first for any Metamora duo.  They won three matches in the main draw to reach the round of sixteen, where they were defeated by the eventual state champion team of Matt Bruch and Alex Lambropoulos of Lake Forest.  As a result of their accomplishments, Shoff and Rauh were named to the All-State third team.  In his last three years of high school, Shoff won ten matches at the state tournament and was named all-state twice.

As a team, Metamora scored seven points to finish tied for 31st place.  This represented Metamora’s highest finish ever at the state tournament.  As another demonstration of the strength of the Mid-Illini Conference, Dunlap scored eight points and Morton eleven.  Dunlap’s points all came via their doubles team of Withers and Bucher, which advanced to the state quarterfinals, including a stunning upset over the tournament’s #1 seeded team from Deerfield.  Morton’s points were more evenly distributed, as the Potters qualified all six players for the tournament for the first time in school history.  In all, the Mid-Illini easily set a new conference standard, qualifying sixteen players for state.  For comparison, the Mid-State Six qualified two.

Kyle Shoff was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.  Nate Rauh received the Most Dedicated Player award, and John Armstrong was the Most Improved Player.

Metamora had another outstanding senior group in ’04.  Not all four seniors contributed a huge number of victories, but all were fantastic individuals and wonderful team players.  As a tribute to their academic prowess, Nate Gray, Patrick Mulcrone, and Ben Winkler were all in the top ten of their graduating class, while Kyle Shoff has received a substantial academic scholarship to attend St. Louis University.  Of the four, Shoff quite clearly had the most spectacular tennis results, but all four players will be missed next year.

The returning nucleus of players at Metamora Township High School now has a large hill to climb to make names for themselves.  The bar has been substantially raised in terms of what is expected.  The individuals that have graduated in the past few years have shown that unyielding dedication to team success can produce quite memorable results, ones that will be cherished forever.  They have also learned that this dedication brings with it good times, lasting friendships, and a closeness with each other that cannot be overlooked.

Congratulations to all Redbird players on another great season.